Bang Bang, You're Dead
by Spicy Lime 63
Summary: Naruto is in High School he’s a sophomore. He gets beat up a lot. But only a few really know about Naruto’s secret...can you guess what it is? WARNING: character death in later chapters and language
1. starting fights

Disclaimer: Itachi says: "Spicy Lime does not own Naruto, but would like to own me…WAIT A MINUTE!! I did _not_ agree to that!"

Spicy Lime: "Too late!" smiles sweetly.

I decided to type this new story because I've been lacking in my other ones…and I need a break so that I can think of better things for them, so I'm writing this one. Lame excuse, ne? Anyways…

Summary: Naruto is in High School (he's a sophomore). He gets beat up a lot. But only a few really know about Naruto's secret. What is it you may ask? Well…you'll have to read to find out.

Warning: has gang related things.

"…" means sign language (not actual sign language…this one is made up.)

"…" means regular speech

'…' means thoughts

* * *

In the town of Konoha there is a very well known High School. The school's name is Fire City High School (FCHS). Many students go there, because it's a public school and it's in the middle of Konoha. Just like all schools it has it's groups. Preps, Jocks, Emos, Goths, and everything in-between. Although, there are some exceptions.

For instance… take Uzumaki Naruto. He's not really anything. He's just extremely antisocial. He wears whatever he feels like. But what he wears are dark colors. He has unruly (not gravity-defying) blond hair with black tips and bright cerulean eyes. It contrasts with his clothing, but in a good way. For some reason, he has a thing for buckles and chains on his outfits. For instance, at this moment, he's wearing a gray muscle shirt with a black trench coat over it that has many, many buckles and chains on it. He has baggy, black pants on with many pockets and a couple chains on it. The pants are loose fitting, and you could tell that the pockets had tons of hidden objects in them. He had on black converse shoes. He also has five piercings on his right ear and three on the left, along with a left eyebrow piercing. But, his most defining feature is his face. On each of his cheeks he has three lines that look like whisker marks.

But, for as bad boy as he looks, he's not popular. He's completely, totally, undoubtedly the most antisocial person at school. Even Uchiha Sasuke speaks to someone once a month. To put it this way, most people thought he was mute until he had to answer a question from one of his teachers.

At this point in time, Uzumaki Naruto was in his fifth hour class, looking outside the window.

It just so happened that at this point in time, a new student came walking down the hall toward his classroom.

'This better be it, or I will fucking kill the next person I see.' He thought.

**KNOCK KNOCK**

A tall brunette with a scar across his nose opened the door.

"Hello? Oh, you must be the new student!" he said excitedly. The redhead in front of him just nodded. (A/N: guess who! And if you don't get it yet… you're dumber than me!)

"Alright! Class! This will be our new classmate. His name is Subaku Gaara! Now be nice to him. It's his first day." Iruka-sensei said with a smile. "Now where to place you? Hmm…I know! Why don't you sit next to Naruto?" at this, the redhead jumped in surprise, although no one noticed it.

Now, this particular redhead has a very unique tattoo above his left temple. The kanji for love in blood red. He wore mostly neutral and dark colors. Around his eyes are black rings…not from eyeliner, as some people believe. As his emerald eyes looked around the classroom, he spotted the blond and went to his seat.

'I didn't expect to see _him_ here.' Is what they were both thinking at the time.

Once Iruka started a boring speech, Gaara decided to try and talk to Naruto.

"Naruto. Hey, Naruto." Gaara whispered.

As the blond turned around, he saw the rest of the class listening in because they had never heard Naruto actually talk to anyone. So he decided to talk in signs.

"Gaara, what the hell are you doing here?"

"My siblings and I were transferred to this school. It wasn't my choice if it makes you any happier."

_(Sigh) _ "Just so you know, don't act like you know me. Just ignore me during school, all hours. I don't like to show people that I can be… friendly."

"Is anyone else here that I should know about?"

"Everyone except Zabuza, Haku, Anju, and Hiro. As a warning, we try to keep our distance during school, no matter what. Got it?"

"Yeah."

And with that, they ended the conversation, leaving a very confused class who only saw them make a few odd twitches and hand movements.

* * *

During lunch:

"You piece of shit! Say something. Oh…wait…that's _riiiiigght,_ I forgot. You're head's in the crapper." Said a rather bulky senior as he pulled Naruto's head out of the toilet.

Yes, poor Naruto has been bullied because of his quiet behavior. It's been happening for years now, and he still hasn't talked to anyone except when he absolutely, positively, has no choice whatsoever (AKA: to answer teacher's questions). He's used to it by now. As he's beaten, he has a neutral face. He displays no emotions.

After giving Naruto a few good dunks in the toilet, the senior decides that he'll just beat him. 'God damn it! I'm gonna make the bitch scream.' He thought viciously. He was really pissed that the blond still hasn't shown any emotion.

As he starts kicking him, he hears the bell, signaling the end of lunch. "We'll continue this later. I'll see you after school, Uzumaki." The senior spat out in disgust.

That's the only school life that Naruto's known. So it's only natural that he hates school. No one would know it, but he's very intelligent. If he really tried, he would come pretty close to being the top of his class. But, to say that he hates FCHS is the understatement of the decade.

There's been many incidents that have rumored to be because of him, but there's never any evidence to back it up. There have been many graffiti _accidents_ that show beautiful art that coexists with school slandering. There were also a few times that the school had been thoroughly trashed. Lockers smashed, windows broken, doors torn off hinges, classes in major disarray, etc. Nothing that can't be fixed. Everyone suspects that these things were done by the blond, but, as I've stated, there's never any evidence to back up the claims.

So, as Naruto picked himself up off of the bathroom floor, he made a decision. 'That bastard **will** die.' He thought.

* * *

End of School:

Unknown to the blond, there is a group of friends (not _his_ friends) that are all walking his way.

They were known as the Nine (A/N: aren't I creative?). There are nine original members of this group, all sophomores. There are three others that hang around with them. Those three are juniors.

The Nine include: Sakura (the pink-haired journalist), Ino (the lean, blond cheerleader), Hinata (the black-haired innocent one), Shino (the sunglass wearing, silent science wiz), Kiba (the spiky-haired jock), Chouji (the culinary expert), Shikamaru (the lazy, intelligent one), Sai (the black-haired analyst and pervert), and Sasuke (the most arrogant, popular, and brooding guy in school). The three juniors are TenTen (Chinese weapons specialist), Lee (strange martial arts specialist with a bowl cut), and Neji (believes in fate and is almost as bad as Sasuke).

The twelve friends basically consist of the most popular out of their groups. Like Shikamaru is one of the most popular smart kids and Kiba is one of the most popular jocks.

The odd thing is that Neji, TenTen, and Ino have tattoos and piercings on their faces that set them apart from the rest. Neji has a unique, twirling design that has a raven intertwined in it above his right eyebrow and an ear piercing. TenTen has a tattoo of a shuriken on her left cheekbone and a lip piercing. Ino has a nose ring and a tattoo of a bleeding, black rose on her jaw line.

The others weren't as… unique. But they had all become quick friends.

The main topic of the group lately is actually about the young blond that was trying to get his books out of his locker and head towards the door. They were actually talking about him because of the most recent displays of _artwork_ in the cafeteria.

"You know…I bet it was that Naruto kid again." Said Chouji while munching on some chips.

"Well, they n-never had anything to pin it o-on him, so you can't really s-say that." Replied Hinata.

"Yeah, but who else is that good at graffiti?" said Ino.

"Troublesome. There are **tons** of other students that are good at graffiti." Shikamaru said in a tired voice.

"_So_! I bet that Sasuke-kun is even better at graffiti. Isn't that right, Sasuke-kun?" shouted Sakura towards the angsty teen.

"Hn." He grunted.

"Actually, I have Sasuke in my art class and to put it lightly… he sucks! It's almost as if he can't even make stick people!" said Kiba.

"GOD DAMNIT!!!" shouted someone in front of them. None of them had ever heard a voice like that. They sounded really pissed off too. But as they rounded the corner, all they saw was the blond boy that they were talking about.

"He didn't just shout, did he? I've never heard him talk, let alone shout." Whispered Chouji.

The rest just shook their heads in disbelief. 'No… it couldn't have been the blond. He's just too quiet to do that.' They all thought. It was then that they saw a senior walking by them, toward the blond.

WHAM! 

He slammed the boy's locker shut.

"I said 'I'll see you later.'" He said. "You're coming with me. Outside. Now." He said as the blond stood up and followed with a hint of a smirk on his face.

As they two boys walked off, the group of friends stood there shocked. "Did he just smirk?" they all asked.

It was then that they realized that the blond was going to get into a fight. So, they naturally followed.

When they arrived, they saw the blond and senior were in an alley. Luckily, neither boy saw the group arrive.

"So, are you ready for a beat down?" asked the senior in a confident voice, pounding his fists together. The blond just nodded, making the senior falter a bit.

"Why you…" As the older boy punched the blond in the stomach, he saw something that he never expected from the emotionless boy. A smirk.

As he was about to ask what that smirk was about, he was hit in the jaw. Hard. He turned and saw Naruto take something out of his bag that he never expected. A lead pipe. "You were saying?" he asked cockily, with an evil smirk that promised a world of pain.

* * *

So…as you can tell, I was out of ideas for my other stories and decided to start another one that I was thinking of doing. Well, now it's not a thought, it's a fanfic. So…if I am out of ideas for my other stories again, I will be working on this one, so the updates may take a while for it. I also thought that since I hadn't seen any actual fics., (yes, I'm going to make you guess.) that I would make one.

Well, on a side note… I have a fucking research paper that's going to be due, so I will probably have even less time for updates this entire week. I know school is there to make you smart and it's really fun to hang with my friends all the time, but I really think that teachers don't understand that we have lives. I mean… I'm busy Mondays, Wednesdays, Saturdays, and some Tuesdays. Then add homework to the mix and you have a really stressed student. Know what I mean?

Well, enough rambling. Heh. Goodbyes.


	2. mysterious happenings

Disclaimer:

Itachi says: "Spicy Lime does not own Naruto, but would like to own me…WAIT A MINUTE!! I did _not_ agree to that!"

Spicy Lime: "Too late!" smiles sweetly.

Well, I gotta say that this is actually turning out better than I didn't plan it to be! Yays! So, I hope that you like it as much as I do right now.

* * *

Last time: 

As he was about to ask what that smirk was about, he was hit in the jaw. Hard. He turned and saw Naruto take something out of his bag that he never expected. A lead pipe. "You were saying?" he asked cockily, with an evil smirk that promised a world of pain.

* * *

"Lost your tongue? Wow. I didn't expect that to happen so soon. I mean, I thought that you've fought before. I guess I was under the wrong impression. So, the question is, what are you gonna do now?" Naruto said while flipping the pipe between hands with a relaxed look. The senior was a different story. His face had created a new shade of white and he was trembling. 

"Y-You're talking?!!" was the only intelligent thing that the older boy could think of.

"Quite observant." The blond stated sarcastically. "So… You said earlier that you wanted a fight? I'm here now. What are you waiting for? Get up." With that said, the senior stood up shakily and prepared for the fight.

"Y-You're going t-to p-p-put that pipe away, a-aren't you? I mean, it's only f-fair." He said with his voice a little shaky.

"Hmm… let me think about it." He said while contemplating whether he should put it down or just use it.

As he thought, the group of people watching were in awe of what they're witnessing.

'WHAT. THE. FUCK.' Was all that they could think of. They were all in shock. First off, Naruto was talking. Second, the blond was threatening a senior. Third, he was holding a lead pipe. And fourth… He was brandishing a FUCKING PIPE! It was just too much for them.

"Well, I've come to a decision. I'll put away my pipe, but we're still going to fight. Now get your ass up before I make you get up." Naruto said after he thought for a while.

When the senior got up, he nervously looked the boy over before getting his confidence back.

"Heh. You're only good enough to beat me when you have that pipe. Now, you're defenseless." The older teen said with a less-than-confident smirk.

As he said that, he rushed at the blond and started throwing punches, only to have them all dodged or blocked. When he felt something hard in his gut, he looked down and saw that Naruto's fist had hit him. This pissed him off.

He tried to head butt the blond, but Naruto dropkicked him. He then held down the boy by placing a foot onto the senior's chest.

"Who's defenseless now?"

When Naruto noticed the boy struggling, he kicked him so that he flew into the wall of the alley with a grunt.

As the senior stood up, he went to punch the blond again, but found that he was right behind him.

'How'd he move that fast?' was a final thought as the senior was hit square in the face and knocked unconscious.

"Feh. Weak. And I didn't even get to take out the pipe." Complained the sophomore as he went to get his bag. As he walked to the shadowed part of the alley that his bag was in, he noticed that someone was watching.

"You can come out now." He said while standing back up with his bag on his back.

'SHIT!' was the unanimous thought from the Nine as they heard the blond call out.

"Heh. Nice job, Naruto-kun. But, you do realize that you went too far with that. He's not even experienced. Not worth your trouble. (sigh) Well… COME ON! I'm not waiting for you all day." Said a voice coming from the shadows of the alley. The Nine couldn't see who it was, let alone tell if the voice belonged to a girl or guy since it echoed against the walls.

The blond just laughed and went deeper into the shadows.

This left a very confused group of sophomores.

* * *

The group of friends were sitting at a restaurant that not many people knew about, let alone went to. So, it was basically them and two other random people. The group's random topic of the evening was… (drum roll please) what they witnessed in the alley. 

"What was that?" asked Ino who was more than a little shaken at what she'd seen.

"Naruto, the quiet, smart, antisocial, I-don't-give-a-fuck, blond beat up a senior who should have been stronger, faster, and unbeatable in comparison." Said a lazy voice from the shadows of the round booth they were sitting at.

"Nice way to sum that all up, Shikamaru. Honestly… if I didn't see it myself, I wouldn't have believed it." Stated Kiba

"I wonder what that was." There came a light tapping from the sunglass-wearing brunette.

"I d-don't know." A uniformed nod came from the rest.

No one really knew what to make of the strange occurrence that they had witnessed. It was like an omen of the apocalypse.

"Well, maybe we should ask him." Suggested Sakura.

"Oh, yeah. The antisocial blond is going to actually speak to us, especially after he finds out that we saw the entire thing." Said TenTen. "I may be from a year ahead of you, but still. Even _I_ know that he wouldn't talk to us."

"Hn." Sasuke agreed with them. (A/N: Fucking emo kid. Just so you know, I have nothing against emos.)

"See. Even Sasuke agrees." Stated Chouji.

"Well… maybe we coul…" Sai never got to finish because at that moment, a certain blond-haired someone walked through the doors with someone else who was hidden in the shadows. The figure was a girl. You could tell by how she walked and how her hooded trench curved with her. You couldn't see her face because of the hood and also because they both went into the shadowed corner.

"I w-wonder who that i-is with Naruto." Hinata said. The others nodded in agreement.

They all stopped whispering when they noticed that Naruto stopped and looked at them curiously. When the other person noticed he stopped, she turned around and whispered in his ear. As Naruto turned around, the girl nodded at the group of High School students and then followed. It was a strange sight. Even Sasuke was wondering what that was about.

"Well that was odd. So troublesome." Said the intelligent brunette. (A/N: if you don't know who this is… then all I can say is wow.)

"Well, that was definitely interesting."

"It was indeed my ball-less friend." Replied Sai.

"Would you shut up about penises and balls! Gods! And why did you pick on Shino? He never did anything to you." The pink-haired girl shouted.

"Stop. Enough fighting. Let's just get out of here before anything happens that makes Naruto know that we saw what happened." Neji said with a pointed glare at them all.

"Fine." They all said as they got up and left, taking one more look at the strange person in the shadows. It just so happens that the girl had taken off her hood and you could see he long hair up in a bun with senbons sticking out for decoration.

* * *

With Naruto: 

"So. How's everything going, Haku?" the blond asked.

"It's going just fine, Naruto-kun. Everyone's been asking what the next plan of action is. You haven't seen us in a while, so we were getting worried." She said.

"Well. Let's just say that I've had to take care of some… unwanted business." He said. She laughed slightly at this. As Naruto stared at her, he studied her tattoos. There were three teardrop tattoos that went down her left cheek. They all looked frozen at the bottoms.

"Always humorous, Naruto-chan. But, you should really call a meeting soon. They're getting a bit antsy from having not heard from you in a while. Just remember. If you don't do something soon, there may be some problems that I cannot fix. Anyway. What… unwanted business did you get rid of?" she asked a little curiously. The blond only did that when it came to _them._

"Well, there was a little quarrel. I just… ended that quarrel for them." He said with a smirk.

"I see. So it was that… Snake?" she spat out.

"Yeah. That asshole deserved it. I mean, honestly. Who wants a fucking pedophile in their group? Besides. It just evens out the field for us."

"I see your point, Naruto-kun. Well, just remember my words. Hiro is getting a little restless. You, more than anyone, should know how restless he can get after a while and what he does when that happens." She said a little exasperated. That idiot, Hiro, wouldn't shut up for like ten fucking minutes and it annoyed the hell out of her. Oh, how she wished she could just strangle him.

"I'll take your words to heart, Haku. Don't worry. I'll call for a meeting in a day or so. We have urgent matters to discuss. I've discovered a few things that will need to be taken care of." He said as he dismissed her. Oh, how troublesome people could be. 'Why can't they all just fucking die?!! Is that too much to ask for? I mean seriously. Or we could all just get along, but no. The idiots didn't have enough brains for that. Instead, we're stuck fighting those stupid assholes. It is their fault, though. They started it by killing Alexial. She had been so nice to him and they had to go and kill her.' He mentally sighed in grief. She had been like a sister to him. Well, an eye for an eye. He had killed Orochimaru, they had kill Alexial. All's fair in love and war as they say. And that's exactly what will happen.

* * *

So I'm fucking pissed. All I can say are that men are fucking pigs! Alright, so I'm dating this guy for not even two weeks and he fucking dumps me. I can't say I blame him though, because of my retarded schedule. But the thing is, he used a fucking _girl_ to _call_ me. Now how fucking god damn impersonal and pathetic is that?!! Alright, so the girl says that she's telling me this because (and I quote) "He doesn't want to see you cry." Well, if he knows me soo well, he would know that I'm not the type of girl to cry over a guy that I've only known for not even two fucking weeks! OH…it gets better. So I call him on Friday to figure this out because some girls can be bitches and call just so that you're out of the picture. Well, he doesn't return my call. I call Saturday, he doesn't return my call. I call Sunday and Monday, and he still doesn't return my fucking call! Now, I just wanted to say that we can still be friends, but nope. Now I'm going to kick his fucking, god damn, mother-fucking ass!! Now to say I'm pissed is an understatement, don't you think? 

Anyways… I hope you liked the story, and I'm sorry for rambling on, but I had to get that out, because no one answered their phones this weekend. Well, I really took my time on this chapter, so I hope you enjoyed it. Thanks for reading and listening to me bitch about my love life. You're all great! Luv you lots! Byes.


	3. meetings

Disclaimer:

Itachi says: "Spicy Lime does not own Naruto, but would like to own me…WAIT A MINUTE!! I did _not_ agree to that!"

Spicy Lime: "Too late!" smiles sweetly.

Well, I gotta say that this is actually turning out better than I didn't plan it to be! Yays! So, I hope that you like it as much as I do right now.

* * *

Last time:

"I'll take your words to heart, Haku. Don't worry. I'll call for a meeting in a day or so. We have urgent matters to discuss. I've discovered a few things that will need to be taken care of." He said as he dismissed her. Oh, how troublesome people could be. 'Why can't they all just fucking die?!! Is that too much to ask for? I mean seriously. Or we could all just get along, but no. The idiots didn't have enough brains for that. Instead, we're stuck fighting those stupid assholes. It is their fault, though. They started it by killing Alexial. She had been so nice to him and they had to go and kill her.' He mentally sighed in grief. She had been like a sister to him. Well, an eye for an eye. He had killed Orochimaru, they had kill Alexial. All's fair in love and war as they say. And that's exactly what will happen.

* * *

At school the next day, the senior wasn't there. This obviously caused a lot of rumors because he had obviously told his buddies who he was gonna confront after school. The rumors didn't really faze Naruto all that much; it's just that, the stupid people who were trying to ask him questions. Of course, he just ignored them all and stared out the window, but inside…he was ready to kill the next thing that so much as breathed in the same one-mile radius as him.

'Mother-fucking bitches!!!! Gods! Just leave me alone. Please… please. Please. Please. Please. Please. Please. I'M FUCKING BEGGING YOU!!! Why did those stupid seniors have to go and tell everyone? Now I have the seniors out for my ass, the people who won't leave me alone, and the people who are too afraid or indifferent to ask. Actually… that last bunch I don't mind. But still! (Chibi Naruto starts kicking and punching and blowing up things inside head.)

Well… nothing better to do… so I think I'll think of the date for that meeting. Don't want to get Haku upset. (shudders at implications) Heh. **Definitely** don't want to get her upset again.' And so he started thinking up a date for his meeting, completely forgetting about the numerous people who surrounded his desk until the bell rang.

* * *

During fifth hour, eight people's cell phones went off, because of a text message. The message:

7 on Sat. B thr

Out of the eight people, only four of them were in school. These four people, sad to say, were caught and had to go get their detention slips.

In the office, after school, waiting to get their phones back, were a redhead, a blond, a brunette, and a thoroughly pissed off dark-haired beauty.

They were all waiting for their phones, but they were all apprehensive as to what was going to happen on Saturday. It had been a while since the last meeting, and they were all anxious to have it. This made the tension in the room a little heavy, mainly because they weren't supposed to be too closely connected friend-wise. It made things a little complicated at school, but it made sure that they weren't taken off to jail or something.

All in all, they wanted to just get the hell out of there.

When they got their phones back, along with a little slip of paper (guess what for!!) they left in different directions.

As they left, they thought of all the things they had to do to prepare for the meeting. It was only in two days after all!

* * *

When the time finally came for the meeting, everyone was there. The specific area that they were all supposed to meet at was the usual spot. It was an abandoned chop shop. It still had all the old parts and mech. tools there. Actually, it was kept in a good and clean condition. Mainly because Zabuza, a long-time member, had a run-in with the previous owner, and lets just say that Zabuza "politely" asked for the deed. Of course, the owner "complied", but was mysteriously never seen again. How strange. Anyway, he kept it in decent order, with a few couches, tables, a TV and a refrigerator. On occasions, the members would go there if they couldn't find a place to sleep. You see, most of the members are homeless and live on the streets. But, this chop shop is mainly used for meetings.

Zabuza, a tall man with dark, spiked hair, sat on a couch, waiting for the members to come. He was about twenty, but he looked about mid-twenties. He's known Haku and Naruto for a very long time, and since he was the oldest out of all the members, he was considered an uncle of sorts to them.

The next person to walk in was Naruto of course. I mean, he is the leader and all. As the blond walked in, he gave a nod, which the other nodded to, in acknowledgement.

The rest of the members silently followed suite for another half-hour.

When everyone was finally present, Naruto stood up. "Yo! Nice to see you all again. Sorry for the wait, but, as you know, I had to even the score." He said the last part with a small frown on his face. The others looked upset as well at the mention of the loss of Alexial. "Well, this meeting is to decide on a plan of action. I have recently discovered that _they're_ planning something. We need to be ready for them. Now, I won't tell you the details just yet. It's only because I think that this source has turned, but it's all we have for now. So… how 'bout ideas? Let's brainstorm!" he said with a cheerful shout.

The others just shook their head at their mood-swinging leader. It was a wonder how he could dispel a bad mood in only a few seconds. But, then again, that wasn't such a bad thing.

"Well, we know where they are, so why not just go and get 'em?" asked Hiro.

"Now. Now. We can't do that, Hiro. That would be like suicide." Said a womanly voice from the corner of the room.

"Heh. Always the voice of reason, eh, Haku?" The teen just smiled at him.

"Well…how about we split into teams and get sectors to keep an eye on? That way, we can report what's happening where so we can narrow things down. Also, if something happens… to one of us, the other can still report." Said a blond who was in the shadows.

Everyone was agreeing that it was a good plan, but where can they go from there? The blond girl is one of the most intelligent in the group.

"Well, we could use this to our advantage. Since we know that they have a couple of major places that they stay at, we could use this to try and find them all. Run them out. You know? We can then slowly use this to force those bastards out." Said a voice coming from the back of the room. They all looked to see who it was.

"That's a pretty good idea. Nice job, kiddies!" squealed the blond. "Who's for it? And are there any more ideas?"

Once it was confirmed that they all liked the idea, and there were not many more ideas, Naruto decided that they should all give reports about anything suspicious and the like.

"Alright. So, I would like to have all of you report on anything suspicious or important that we should know." Stated the blond.

"I'll go first." Stated a redhead who stepped out of the shadows.

"Thanks, Gaara."

"No problem. Anyway… I have been kicked out of my apartment building, so I'm now staying with my siblings, if any of you need me. Besides that, in my area, there was a strange guy with dyed, green hair. He was pretty tall and had goldish-brown eyes. He always went past my apartment with some strange people, and they always went the same way. I went to follow them and found that they're with _them._ _They_ have an abandoned bar on the corner of South Burbank Street. It seems that they have some of their meetings there." He said. Everyone stared at the redhead, who had actually set a record on the number of words he said in one day.

"Alright. I'll go next. So far, I have seen no changes on the streets. It's the same as always… whores, drunks, and a lot of rats." Naruto said.

The next person to step up was Hiro. A brazen young man with tan skin, chocolate eyes, and dark locks that surround his face. Over his left eye, he has a tattoo that is made from a scar going down, across his eye. Besides his good looks, he's the most arrogant son-of-a-bitch you'll ever meet. "Well, not much to report. Everything's pretty peaceful on my end. Well, except for the shootings, but hey… it's normal."

It was now Haku's turn. "Well, down on Waterstreet there were a couple of incidents, but they were resolved." She said with a smile as she sat down.

After her was Zabuza. "Absolutely nothing is happening down here besides some drug dealers, theft, and car jackings. But, as Hiro said, it's normal." The way he had his head tilted, you could see his tattoo. It's above the left eyebrow. The kanji for demon.

Another figure rose from where it was sitting. This person had eyes that almost glowed in the dark shadows. It had long, ebony hair that was loosely tied back. "There was an incident that involved _them_. I think they were scooping the area out. From what I can tell, _they_ don't travel unless they have a partner. After a couple of days, an explosion occurred a block down from my apartment. They stopped coming since then. I don't know what they're planning. But it seems a little odd." He said. As he sat down, another person stood up.

This person was a girl with buns in her hair. Her face was obstructed from view by the shadows as well. "There wasn't anything down in my area. Everything was peaceful except for one shooting, but it wasn't by _them._" She said as she leaned back against a wall.

Yet again, another person stood up, obscured in the lighting. She has long, blond hair that is up in a ponytail. "Nada. Nothing. Zilch. Zero. Absolutely, positively nothing interesting at all has happened in my neck of the woods." She said with a barely noticeable smile gracing her features.

The last person in the group stood up. She had an aura of grace surrounding her as she started with her report. "Well, I've found one of their bases. It's on the outskirts of town. Just by a couple of miles. I would go check it out, but I didn't want to go by myself. I may be good, but I'm not good enough to do that. Other than that, not much else has happened."

When she finished, she stepped out, into the light. She had waist-length, pitch black hair. Her hair has red-dyed bangs. Her eyes are the color of the deepest emeralds and her figure is, in a word, perfect. The only thing that really makes her strange is that she has a tattoo of three claw marks coming down her right cheek. At the moment, her outfit consisted of a red tube top with black netting over it. She has on loose fitting black pants with tons of pockets, chains, and buckles on them. The shoes she wore were converse. Her nails are painted red and she has on a black hat. To sum her up, she's a little goth with a side of slut. Yep. Slut. That sums her up pretty well. Back to the story…

"So, Naru-kuuun, how have you been? It's been suuuch a long time." She said while embracing him.

"I'm fine, Anju-chan. It's just been a while. How about we continue this later? We still have matters to discuss." The blond said while pulling her off of him. She just pouted and let go.

"Well… now that we have the important crap out of the way, I would like to say that it's been a while. Nice to see you all again, Haku, Gaara, Hiro, Anju, Zabuza, TenTen (the girl with buns in her hair stepped out), Ino (the blond waved), and Neji (the boy with long, dark hair and glowing eyes nodded in acknowledgment)."

* * *

Yays! Woot! I finished another chapter. It took me a while, but it's finally done. Wow! You wouldn't believe how long it took me! Well, you might, but still! I had so much going on. I have a research paper that I'm still working on, I had One Night Only (a dancing and singing thing at my school), piano practice, had and still am putting things down in the basement, and on top of all that, I still have my regular homework to do. (pulls hair out in frustration) Well. Now on to happier news.

As you know from my last chapter, I had a little boy trouble. Well, when I confronted him, he said that he didn't contact me sooner because his mom took away his phone for two weeks (do I believe him? I don't really know) and so he's missed **everyone's** calls. He then said that he's not breaking up with me for some stupid reason, it's because his mom grounded him from seeing anyone for, like, a year (do I believe this? Not really, but I'm over it. It's been like a month anyways). So… I would like to ask the general reading people who have gone this far into my author notes… do you think he's a lying scumbag or do you think he's telling the truth?

**Poll! Do you think that Angel (my ex-boyfriend) is a lying scumbag or do you think he is telling the truth? You decide!**

Until next time! Byes.


	4. blood and conversations

Disclaimer: Itachi says: "Spicy Lime does not own Naruto, but would like to own me…WAIT A MINUTE!! I did _not_ agree to that!"

Spicy Lime: "Too late!" smiles sweetly.

Well, I gotta say that this is actually turning out better than I didn't plan it to be! Yays! So, I hope that you like it as much as I do right now.

* * *

Last time:

"Well… now that we have the important crap out of the way, I would like to say that it's been a while. Nice to see you all again, Haku, Gaara, Hiro, Anju, Zabuza, TenTen (the girl with buns in her hair stepped out), Ino (the blond waved), and Neji (the boy with long, dark hair and glowing eyes nodded in acknowledgment)."

* * *

After a few more hours of discussion, they all started to part ways. When they all left, the only people left were Naruto, Anju, and Haku, who were supposed to lock up when they left. Zabuza had to leave for a late meeting that he was going to be late for. (A/N: 0.o) Yes, he does have a high profile job and is still in the gang. Strange, ne?

"Thank you for taking my advice, Naruto-kun. It was wonderful to see the whole group together after such a long time. Good-bye, Naruto-kun and Anju-chan." She bowed and left.

"She's always so graceful. Heh. So, what do you want to do, Anju-chan?" he asked, turning toward the dark-haired beauty.

She smiled mischievously. "Well, it's sort of late. Why don't we take a walk? It's been a while since we took a "walk." What do you say?" she asked.

Likewise, he got a mischievous grin as well. "Well. Now that you mention it… why not? It's been a while since we took a "walk." Let's go!" he shouted and ran off, tugging her along with him.

Their so-called "walk" actually includes playing pranks on the numerous civilians in town. Deep down, Anju is very intelligent, but no one except Naruto really knows that. But, if someone were to see her and Naruto planning a prank, they would have no doubt in their mind that she's a mini-genius.

When they finally tired of playing pranks, they both went up to their favorite spot: the roof of a giant apartment building. They just lay there looking at the stars and talking. They liked it that way.

"Hey, Anju-chan, how've you been? We haven't been able to talk lately. You've been away on business, and I've been trying to keep a low profile for a bit. Heh. You won't believe that I've actually stayed in those stupid schools, just so I can keep a low profile. (sigh) So, what've you done lately?" he asked.

"Well, Naruuu-kuuun. I've been working on gathering info on where _their_ base is. I'm sowwy I couldn't see you sooner. But, I thought of you the entire time you weren't there. I thought of you all day, and night, and even in my sleep." She said while snuggling closer to the blond. "You wanna play a game with Anju-chan?! I wanna play a game with Naru-kun! Pweeeeaaaaase." She pouted at the blond.

'Stupid puppy dog eyes and cute pout. You'll be the end of me.' He thought while shaking his head. "Sure, Anju-chan!" he said with a big smile.

* * *

The next morning at school…

"So… who do you think that was with Naruto the other day? You know. The one that we saw him in the restaurant with." A brunette with strange face paint going down his cheeks said.

"I don't know, Kiba. Oooh. Maybe he's dating that girl! Ahhhhh!" Sakura screamed in excitement.

"Will you shut up?!" yelled a very irritated Ino. She may be friends with Sakura, but even friends can only take so much of Sakura's annoying screaming.

"Oh? Well then what do _you_ think was going on with that girl and Naruto? Eh?" she asked nudging the blond. 'Too bad she doesn't know that I really _do_ know what was going on. Heh heh.' Thought Ino. But, she only answered with an "I don't know."

It was only Sakura, Ino and Kiba that were in the classroom at the moment. That is, until the one minute bell rang and the entire class came running in, including the rest of the nine, hoping to not get a tardy. (A/N: the nine all have first hour together.) But, uncharacteristically, the blond that they had been talking about earlier had arrived late instead of early like he usually does. By late, I mean thirty seconds until the school day officially starts.

"That's odd. He never comes in later than the one minute bell." Sakura whispered.

"I know. Kind of odd. Maybe his alarm went off late." Ino whispered back.

"Or maybe, he had a run in with that girl that he's supposedly dating." Kiba whispered harshly, even though he wasn't included in their conversation.

"Maybe you could all stop whispering and pay attention to today's lecture. That is, unless you want to share your conversation with the rest of the class." Mizuki threatened.

"Sorry, sensei." They all replied.

"Thank you. Now. Who can tell me…" As Mizuki continued with his lecture the three just kept talking. Yes, he did notice, but decided to take a famous quote from a certain Nara Shikamaru. 'How troublesome.' He sighed mentally and just continued with class.

Later…

It was actually a really boring day. Surprisingly, it's only fourth hour. Naruto just happens to have this class with Neji, Gaara, Hinata, and Sasuke. His sensei for this class is Shizune. She's the assistant to Tsunade, the nurse, and also teaches Anatomy. It's a pretty advanced class and only recommended students can get in. The only reason Sakura isn't in that class is because she was a little freaked out about the idea of dissecting and looking at the inside of people and a couple animals. That's beside the point. Back to the story…

"Alright. Now, for today's homework…" a collective whine from the entire class erupted at this.

"I said… for today's homework you will have to write an eight page essay on the pros and cons of…" she had to stop as another student interrupted her by saying that eight pages are too much. Her left eye started twitching. "If you don't shut up now, it will become eleven pages. Now. Do I have any more interruptions? Good. Your essays will be on the pros and cons of experimenting on lab animals. I will explain why this essay is important when you actually turn it in. Now. Get to work!" she yelled. She just couldn't seem to get in a good mood today. Everything that could go wrong did go wrong and she just couldn't stop it from happening. Usually she's kind-hearted and endearing person, but has a very sadistic side. Sadly, for her students, she's only sadistic today.

Shizune had only just started grading that day's homework when a disturbance from outside caught her attention. 'Now what could that possibly be?' she thought to herself as she looked out the window. (Her classroom is conveniently located on ground level.)

As she was about to get out of her chair and look, she heard banging and screaming from outside the window.

"NARUTOOOOO!!! **ARGH!!!**" were the pained screams of a bloody and beat up Anju.

"Anju!" he shouted and ran towards the window. All the students were in a state of shock. First off, a bleeding girl had banged on the windows, shouted Naruto's name, and had fallen down. Second, Naruto had actually shouted! It's the thing after that that really set them off. Neji and Gaara had both shouted about the dark-haired girl that had collapsed. Two complete strangers (yeah right) both know this girl as well.

"Someone get the principal and call Tsunade!" Shizune shouted at the class. She knew that she wasn't advanced enough to know how to fix wounds like that, but Tsunade was. She used to be a surgeon, but got tired of life or death situations and decided to become a school nurse.

Someone did make a move, but not who or how she expected.

Naruto had jumped out of his seat and ran towards the windows. He couldn't get the window to open so he did the next best thing. He smashed his hand through the window, making the glass shatter so he could get outside.

"Anju-chan! Are you okay? What happened?!" he shouted, not caring if the other students heard or not.

"I-I. (cough) I." She promptly fainted from blood loss. She had bullet wounds in her. 'Shit!' was all the blond could think at the moment.

Soon after Naruto had smashed the window, Gaara and Neji soon followed. They both knew that there would be questions asked, but they didn't really care at the moment either. It was literally life or death at the moment. From what they could tell, those wounds were very close to certain vital parts that could kill her. There was also a huge amount of blood loss from what they could see.

When the got outside, they joined Naruto.

"Naruto. It's ok. We need to get her to the nurse. The ambulance won't make it here in time and she's the closest we have." Neji said reassuringly to the blond who just nodded slowly.

All three boys scooped up Anju and jumped back into the classroom. As Naruto and Gaara set her on a huge lab table, Neji ran to get the nurse.

"Shh. Anju, it's ok. We're getting a nurse." He whispered to her. "You're going to be ok. What happened?" He knew she couldn't hear him, because she had fainted, but he was extremely worried.

Gaara and Neji just watched as Naruto held her.

"We need to get her to Tsunade, Naruto." Neji said to the anxious blond.

Naruto just nodded and picked her up. He jumped through the window and started for the nurse.

Shizune just stared at the three boys. All that went through her mind was pretty much 'WTF?!' Not to try and lighten the angsty mood or anything. But, seriously. No one knew what was happening. It was kind of odd that three people who are never seen together, were suddenly helping each other out.

At the nurse's office…

"Tsunade! We have a problem!" screamed a familiar voice.

Tsunade turned around to see her favorite blond, with Gaara and Neji, come running in.

"What's the matter, you litt… Omigod! Who is that?" she asked. There was so much blood. Apparently gun shot wounds. 'What the hell happened?! Who is this girl?'

"No time to explain. Please help her." Naruto said anxiously. Tsunade had never seen him like this before. 'Why would this stranger make him so worried?' she wondered.

"Ok. But, I'm going to need your guys help." She said and started giving them orders.

After about a half hour or so, Anju was sleeping, all bandaged up and ok. She just had severe blood loss and a couple of bullets that needed to be taken out.

Gaara, Neji and Naruto were sitting by the table next to her. Tsunade was just looking at the boys. They all knew that there would be questions soon. They were right.

"So… How do you all know this girl?" she asked. There was no way that this was a coincidence.

Naruto sighed. The other two looked at Naruto in question. He just nodded his head.

"Well. You see it's a really long story." He said.

Obviously, Tsunade wasn't buying it. "Try me."

* * *

"So you actually hit her?!" asked an annoyingly high pitched voice.

"Yeah. Me and Sasori were meeting with Itachi and Kisame when we saw her walking by. It was too good to pass up, yeah." Said a blond.

"Wow! I can't believe it! That's amazing, Deidara-san!" the voice from behind the mask said.

**WACK!**

"Ow! Why'd you hit me?!" he said while rubbing his head.

"You were yelling, yeah. Why don't you ever shut up, Tobi?! So annoying, yeah." Deidara said. He just mumbled unintelligibly.

"So, did she die?" he asked.

"Knowing her good luck, she probably didn't, but I hope she did, yeah. We beat her up pretty badly, but for some reason, Itachi only shot her close to her vital points. It's odd, yeah." The blond thought out loud.

"Maybe he has feelings for her!" shouted a happy Tobi.

"You baka! Why would Itachi have feelings for a tramp like her, yeah?"

"Me no know."

"OMIGOD! It was a rhetorical question, yeah! Why don't you ever shut up!!! (sigh) I need aspirin (sp?)." He said and walked away, leaving a very confused Tobi behind.

'So… they actually harmed the second in command? Very good. Although, Itachi let her get away. I will need to talk to him about that. Yes… I think I will.' Thought the leader of the Akatsuki gang as he listened to Deidara and Tobi's conversation in secret.

* * *

So…how'd you like the new chapter. I know that it took a while to update, but I've been busy, so it's taken a while to update the others as well. So please don't hurt me! (cowers in fear). Wow. It really has been a while. Anyways… I hope you all liked the two cliffies that I left! Don't you just love me?! (sarcasm.) Well, I hope you do! I mean, I _am_ typing this story just for you readers. And maybe because I have nothing better to do in life. (I really do, but that's not important.) Well, I hope that you liked the little twist that I put in there.

Guess what! I actually have the ending to this done (inside my head that is), but I actually know where this is going! Isn't that cool!? J/k. I already had the ending in my head when I started this story. I just wanted to make you mad! Well…I've had enough messing around for no apparent reason.

Sorry for my rambling on and on and on and on and on and on. Well, byes for now! (music) So long. Farewell. Avid a se. Adieu. (end music)

(sorry for the spelling mistakes! Byes)


	5. wakings and followings

Disclaimer: Itachi says: "Spicy Lime does not own Naruto, but would like to own me…WAIT A MINUTE!! I did _not_ agree to that!"

Spicy Lime: "Too late!" smiles sweetly.

Well, I gotta say that this is actually turning out better than I didn't plan it to be! Yays! So, I hope that you like it as much as I do right now.

* * *

Last time:

"So… How do you all know this girl?" she asked. There was no way that this was a coincidence.

Naruto sighed. The other two looked at Naruto in question. He just nodded his head.

"Well. You see it's a really long story." He said.

Obviously, Tsunade wasn't buying it. "Try me."

* * *

The boys looked at each other. They really didn't want to tell her that they're all in a gang. What they didn't know was that Tsunade already knew that Naruto was in a gang (she doesn't know about the others).

"So, are all of you just gonna sit there, or do I have to beat one of you up so you talk?" she asked menacingly while cracking her knuckles. The three boys cringed. It was a widely known fact that while Tsunade may be the school nurse, she has a **monstrous** strength.

The three youths shared another look. Gaara and Neji didn't really feel like talking, so the blond decided that he'd start. He slowly sighed. "Well…" he started, but Tsunade stopped him.

"Just so you know, I don't want to hear some bullshit story. So, tell me the truth. I know that you're in a gang, Naruto." She saw his face go a shade paler.

"Y-You knew?" he asked shakily. He had no clue that she knew. Sure, he would have tons of bruises, and he used to get beat up a lot, but how would she know? "How did you find out?" he asked since he knew she wasn't bluffing.

"When I was treating you for a broken rib, I saw a couple of scars that look strangely like bullet wound scars. But the big tip was the still healing one." She said. He just nodded.

"Alright. Well, then I can severely shorten the story. That girl there is in the gang. We heard banging coming from the window, and saw her collapse. I ran and got her." He said. "Hey! Why'd you say about the gang out loud if you don't know if these two are in it?!" he shouted. He sweat dropped when he saw her just shrug her shoulders.

"Well…from the looks of it, they already knew, or they're in it." She concluded. The stoic boys just shrugged.

"Alright, only one of you can stay here. The other two have to go back to class. So who is it?" Neji and Gaara silently left, knowing that Naruto would like to stay with Anju.

When the two boys left, she saw the hardened resolve on Naruto's face.

'I wonder what that look means.' She thought as she walked back to her desk in the adjoining room.

Naruto ended up staying with Anju for a while. He told Tsunade that he didn't want her at a hospital for reasons unknown to the blond medic. She just agreed.

Anju ended up waking in the middle of the night. She felt like shit and didn't know where she was at. The walls were too white, even in the dark she could tell. She tried to sit up to get a better look. What she noticed next was the very familiar face of a blond she knew. 'Naruto.' The blond was fast asleep. It was kind of cute how he was tangled up on the chair, drooling slightly. She had never seen him this way. He was either stoic, funny, or between the two. He was **never** seen this way. So relaxed.

She laughed slightly at the sight, causing the blond to wake up. He was a light sleeper, he always had been. One need to be alert, even in sleep, or bad things could happen.

The first thing he saw was Anju laughing. He tried to sit up, but as he was tangled up on the chair, he fell face first onto the floor. This just made her laugh harder, making her wheeze slightly, as she _did_ have a few gunshot wounds.

"I'm okay." She managed to say. He nodded, stood up, and gave her a hug. "I'm glad." He whispered back.

The next day (first hour):

Everyone at school had apparently heard about the strange, bleeding girl who had collapsed and called out for Naruto. _Naruto_. The stoic blond who showed no emotion. And apparently, he had broken through a window to get to her and had taken her to the nurse along with Neji and Gaara. Two other stoic boys with no emotion. It was especially odd since the three boys didn't know each other.

There were many rumors going around when Naruto came to school. Anju had gotten better, so he took her back to her place and he went to his. So, imagine his surprise when he had gotten to school and everyone was talking about him. 'Why has this been happening to me lately?!' he thought exasperatedly, but had on his usual, uncaring face on.

Yet again, he had people crowding around his desk, asking questions. But, it was the people who weren't asking questions that bothered him. The so-called Nine and the group that they hung with weren't asking questions. He had heard that they were a little curious of him lately (got the info from Neji and Ino). 'What are they up to?'

Across the classroom with the nine:

"I can't believe that happened!" came the voice of Sakura. "Are you serious, Hinata?" She just couldn't believe what the girl was saying.

"Y-Yes. I saw it happen d-d-during fourth hour. A-As-Ask Sasuke if you don't b-b-believe me." She finally managed to stutter out.

The whole group just looked at Sasuke. He grudgingly nodded to confirm that what she was saying is true.

"This sucks! I wish that I had seen it! Why couldn't _I_ have fourth hour Anatomy." Kiba whined. He was the only one to voice what they were all thinking. That is, besides Neji, Sasuke, and Hinata, who had all seen it happen.

"Why would he even react towards a strange girl?" asked Ino, playing along with what the others were saying. Of course she knew what had happened, because Neji had told her. She _is_ in the gang, so she should know. That was the reasoning of Neji.

"Unless he already knew who the girl was." Came the voice of Shino.

"H-He did shout o-o-out her name." Hinata voiced.

"Hey, Neji. You went with the blond, didn't you?! Omigod! Spill." Tenten demanded. She was just acting. She knew that he'd tell her later anyway.

Neji was about to say some lame lie when the teacher came in. 'Nice timing for once, Kakashi-sensei.' He thought.

"Yo. You can all read sixty pages from…" he started as the class groaned. Why oh why, Kami-sama, did Kakashi have to be the one to teach sexual education? "…Itcha Itcha Paradise!" he finished. His sex ed. class involved reading from his perverted book, Itcha Itcha Paradise, which is written by some perverted old man who likes to peep in women's baths or houses.

'Troublesome.' Were the thoughts of Shikamaru. Kakashi just had to come in when they could get _the_ first-hand account of what happened. Shikamaru may not seem the type to care about crap, but he does like his information.

'Oh well.' He thought as he went to sleep. No one ever does anything in Kakashi's class. As long as they read the book during class, after, they could get away with murder for all he cared.

The students didn't finish reading by the end of class, much to their dismay. It's just…who wanted to read that much… well, porn.

So, the Nine and Co. couldn't really talk anymore until lunch. But when that time came around, almost everything was said at once. Well, that's besides Sasuke, Shino, Shikamaru, and Neji, who rarely speak. Although, Neji wasn't there today. He had to stay and take a quiz in his fifth hour.

"Omigod there was this guy during chemistry and he was li…"

"Seriously. Mr. Jing was like a total bas…"

"What the fuck was up with that test today?!! It was so fricki…"

Etc. Etc.

When they were done trying to talk, and were out of breathe, things settled down.

"So, we have to find someone to talk to Neji to get him to spill. So, who's got an idea?" Sakura asked. They all looked at Shikamaru who just groaned. Although, Lee had other plans.

"I have a wonderful idea that will accentuate our youth, Sakura-chan!!!" he shouted with his huge smile. They all sweat dropped.

"Let's hear it, Lee." They all groaned out. Chouji just kept eating, trying to block out whatever stupid thing Lee was about to say.

"Well, we find out who has classes with him, and they could each try to find out what happened. We could also sort of ambush him after school." He said in a serious, not-screaming voice. They just stared and stared…and stared some more. It was the simplest idea, but it just might work.

So that's what they decided to do.

Too bad for them that by the end of the day, Neji was ready to kill the next person to ask him a question. He knew that they would probably try something after school, so he decided to take a detour.

As he was walking through the halls to find a more secretive way out, without letting the others know, he saw Naruto.

Neji decided to follow the blond. He figured that Naruto was going to his place, but then realized that no one, except Haku and Zabuza, know where the blond lives. So, he was naturally curious.

Naruto was taking it slow on the way "home". He didn't have anywhere to be, and he wanted to take a quick stop by Anju's. He needed to talk to her and make sure that she's ok. But he just couldn't stop this nagging feeling, like he forgot something. 'Oh well.'

Neji followed the blond to one of the worst areas of the town. It was rundown, filled with disease, and had tons of bad people there. When he saw the blond stop, it was at a rundown apartment building.

As Naruto ascended the stairs to his apartment, he couldn't get rid of this feeling. It keeping pulling at his mind, but he couldn't figure out why. He would very, very soon.

When he got to his apartment, he saw something very strange. Well, more like out of place. The owner of the apartment complex. She looked pissed beyond belief.

"Look, you little shit! I thought I told you to get the fuck out!" she screamed. 'Oooh. That's what it was. Heh. Shit.' He had just remembered what that nagging feeling was. He was kicked out yesterday for some stupid reason. 'Why was that? Oh yeah. Something about me leaving the front door open and not giving her money. That's some fucked up shit right there.' He thought solemnly.

"What are you doing just standing there? Get your stuff and get out now! If you don't, I will burn all that shit of yours." She threatened with one more glare. He just nodded and went inside to grab his stuff. It wasn't much, but it was his and he would not let this woman burn it.

Neji just watched from afar. Hidden in behind the corner of the stairwell.

The blond decided that since he _was_ going to Anju's he could just ask her if he could stay there for a bit. So, he set off.

* * *

Sorry that the end was kind of crappy, but I figured that I just wanted to get the new chapter out, and so I just ended it there. The next one will be longer, though. So don't worry. I promise! (crosses heart) Well, I'm sorry about the major cussing, but that's how I portray the owner of the apartment stuff. I just thought, there's a lot of explaining to do with how certain people got into the gang. So…I decided that there will be flashbacks every now and then, explaining why a certain person is in the gang. Yep! Yep! (nods head excitedly) These will also explain the tattoos that everyone has. Now that that's all over with…(whew, wipes forehead exasperatedly) I can talk about stupid things. Well…I have found out that in the past four months, I haven't gotten to sleep until one. How sad is that. So, I have decided that for one week, I will go to bed at ten thirty. I really really really **_REALLY_** need the sleep. Anyways…I hope you enjoyed the new chapter. Byes for now! And thank you to you faithful reviewers. 


	6. reminiscing

Disclaimer: Itachi says: "Spicy Lime does not own Naruto, but would like to own me…WAIT A MINUTE!! I did _not_ agree to that!"

Spicy Lime: "Too late!" smiles sweetly.

Well, I gotta say that this is actually turning out better than I didn't plan it to be! Yays! So, I hope that you like it as much as I do right now.

* * *

Last time:

Neji just watched from afar. Hidden in behind the corner of the stairwell.

The blond decided that since he _was_ going to Anju's he could just ask her if he could stay there for a bit. So, he set off.

* * *

Naruto was walking down familiar streets, down to Anju's. As he walked, he got the distinct feeling that someone was following him, but paid no attention to it. He was too distracted to think of those sorts of things.

He saw a few random people on the street. They were dirty and in rags, but that's normal for this part of town.

'Heh. The good ol' days.' He thought desolately. 'Been a while since I've been back down this way. I wonder if it's still there.' He thought as he decided to make a slight detour.

Neji was closely following the blond when he saw him stop for a few moments.

'He seems to be thinking of something. Wonder what.'

After the blond got out of his reveries, Neji saw him make a slight adjustment to where he was going. Or, that's what it seemed.

'Wonder where he's going now.'

Naruto had made up his mind and wanted to go see something very dear to him. He walked through streets, alleys, and through one abandoned house. Naruto stopped for a few minutes in a little, deserted lot, but soon left and continued on his way.

It was quite a while before the blond had finally found what he was looking for. He stared and stared.

'It looks just like it did back then. Not changed in the slightest, besides a few more cracks. I can't believe I haven't been here for such a long time.' He sighed sadly.

Neji looked on in wonder. He'd never seen Naruto look like this before. The blond had a sad smile on his face. It was odd to see him this way. The gang had only seen him as a tough leader who liked to joke around, but could be serious when needed.

'I've never seen him look this vulnerable.' He thought.

Naruto, meanwhile was thinking about the past. Looking at the buildings in front of him, he could hear the laughs, cries, and screams that had vanished long ago. He could never be able to forget this place. No matter what. He could remember it all like yesterday…

**FLASHBACK**

It was a bright and sunny day. Children were outside playing and laughing. All accept one little boy.

There was a little boy of about six years old. He had bright, blond hair and big, blue eyes. He was sitting on a cardboard box, holding a sandwich. He ate it with the ferocity of a starved animal.

Suddenly, he sat up and looked around. There was a shuffling coming from around the corner. He was about to run when he was tackled by two people. He struggled, but to no avail.

"Hah! Told you we would get you, Naru-chan!!!" came a familiar voice accompanied by some giggling. The blond just groaned.

"Anju-chaaan. Ten-chaaaan. Will you two pleeaaasse get off of me now?!" he shouted at the two girls. The only answer he received was the two of them hugging him even tighter.

"Fine then. I promise you that I'll get you both back for this." he said angrily as they finally let go of him.

"Yeah right!" Tenten said mockingly. "As if we girls would let some boy get us back for something so stupid. As if you can even touch us." Anju nodded and stuck out her tongue.

Naruto growled. "I'll get you!" he said and took off running towards them. The girls screamed and ran. They were having a good time until the girls left.

The blond was once again alone. He sighed.

'It's getting late. I should go home.'

He slowly walked through streets, alleys, and around one house. He finally arrived. It was a group of abandoned buildings. They were practically falling down already.

'Home, sweet home.' He thought wryly.

The houses were already occupied, but there were a few alleys that had homeless people living in them. The blond turned into an alleyway and stopped halfway through. He looked around to make sure that nobody was looking and slowly pushed aside a cardboard box. Behind the cardboard box was a window to one of the building's basement. He fiddled with a padlock on the window, slid it open, and hopped in.

The room had a dirty couch, a small table, a mini-fridge, and a few scuffed up books that were scattered here and there. The window that he had entered through was situated above the couch. There was a door next to the fridge, but it was chained and locked. The only reason the blond could get into the basement room was by fiddling with the lock on the window. (He doesn't really live in the building; he's homeless if you haven't figured it out already.)

As he sat down on the couch, he looked around the room, making sure that nothing was stolen. He also made sure that the box had hidden the window again and that everything was locked up. As he laid in his couch/bed, his mind was yet again scrambled with thoughts. He sighed, knowing it would take a while to finally get to sleep, just like every night before.

The next day, he woke up with a huge yawn. He went to the fridge looking for something partially edible to eat. When he opened it, all he saw was something that vaguely resembled an alien life form. 'WTF?!! I do _not_ want to know what that was.'

He sighed and closed it, knowing that he'd have to try and find food elsewhere. He went over to his rotting couch and sat down, picking up an old piece of paper and a pen. He then started to write. It was a note to a friend.

When he was done, he ran up on the couch, opened the window, made sure no one was around (he just listened to make sure no one was around), and pushed the box out of the way. He climbed out, locked the window, and shoved the box back in place.

He then started to walk around, looking for food or money.

'People suck! I hate this town!' he screamed in his head as people were shouting at the "demon child" to leave them alone. Yes, the stupid people in this town call all the homeless and poor children "demons." It's sad and stupid, but there's nothing that the children can do about it. Although, most of them learn to cope with it. Some in good-ish ways, and others in not-so-good ways. Ex. of good-ish ways: ignoring it or beating the crap out of the person. Ex. of not-so-good ways: killing themselves or the person.

Now, as little Naruto walked down the streets some more, he saw a familiar face and went after her. He ran toward the alley across the street, almost getting killed by a car along the way. He cried out to her, but she never heard. When he finally rounded the corner, he saw a horrible scene. It was a group of adults beating his poor friend. He ran in and tried to pull them off of her, but they were too strong and too many for such a young boy.

He eventually got pissed and kicked on of the men between the legs. The man screamed and fell down. (ouch!! Heh. Poor guys and their weakness.) The others stopped hitting and kicking the girl when their comrade fell. That's when they noticed Naruto. The girl ran away as the group started to beat the blond. He was used to it, so he only screamed a couple times. He especially screamed when they broke his leg, arm, fingers, and a couple of ribs.

The men were about to finish him off when a gun fired out of nowhere. The head exploded off of the man about to slit the blond's throat. The group of men just turned around and saw a big man of about late teens. He had a pretty big-sized gun in his hand and he was with the little girl from earlier. She was currently hiding behind the man with the gun.

There was shouting, but Naruto couldn't hear any of it. He was quickly succumbing to blissful unconsciousness. The last thing he saw was of blood and body parts being blown this way and that and a pair of arms lifting him off the ground.

When he woke up, he was somewhere warm. It was also fuzzy.

'I don't own anything that's warm and fuzzy. What could this be?' he thought groggily as he tried to sit up. All that did was cause him to wince in pain. So, he opened his eyes.

He was in a house. More like a small apartment. It was extravagantly furnished (from Naruto's point of view it is) and had heating/air conditioning. 'Wooowww. I wonder where I'm at.' It was then that he remembered all that had happened the night before.

He looked around frantically and finally saw what he was looking for. It was the friend he had saved last night. He smiled. But, that smile changed into a questioning look when he saw her sleeping on the lap of some stranger. The one who had the gun last night.

After making sure the place was safe, he looked at himself. He had on a baggy shirt and small shorts. 'They must have cleaned me up.' He thought to himself. He then tallied up all his injuries.

'Wow. I sure got the Hell beaten outta me.' He thought.

He was taken out of his reveries when he heard something rustle. He turned and saw the girl getting up off of the man's lap.

She wearily rubbed her eyes and blinked a couple times. With half-lidded eyes, she looked around confusedly. Her eyes stopped on the blond in front of her. She tilted her head slightly in question and smiled.

"G'morning Naruto-kun." He smiled back.

"G'morning Haku-chan." He replied.

"Naruto-kun…" she started, while poking her fingers together. "Are you okay? Y-You saved me. We tried to clean you up, but there was a lot of blood and guck-y stuff on you. Sure you're 'kay?" The words came pouring out fast.

"Yeah. I'm okay, but I still hurt. I'll need to rest for a bit." He said. She suddenly sat up and ran towards him.

"Haku… What're you d… OW!!!" he shouted as she slammed him back down onto the couch he's currently occupying.

"Naruto-kun said that he's hurt and still needs to rest, so Haku is going to force him to do just that." She said with her arms folded, too stubborn for her own good. Naruto knew better than to argue with her when she gets like this.

He sighed. "Fine. But, I have a question. Who is that guy that saved us?" he asked while jabbing his thumb in the direction of the man sitting on an armchair.

Haku looked at the man and back at Naruto. She seemed to be thinking. "Well… he's this really nice guy that…"

"That's okay, Haku. I can answer that." Said a voice that made them both jump. It was the man. 'He must've been awake the whole time.' The blond thought.

Naruto looked up at the man. He had dark hair and was pretty big; that is, compared to the young blond.

"Hi, my name is Zabuza." He said, extending his hand. Naruto looked at it quizzically, but decided that he seemed nice enough and took it.

"Naruto. Um…Why am I here?" Zabuza chuckled at this.

"Well, after saving you and Haku-chan, here…" he started while ruffling the young girl's hair. "I basically took you both here. We had to clean everyone up. You were the worst because of your injuries and you were right next to the carnage that I created. Now, you're here." He said with a flourish of his hand.

"Oh. Okay. Well I should go now." The blond started to get off the couch when he was yet again pushed down onto the couch. "OW! What the fuck is with you two?!!!" 'God damn, that hurt.'

"You're not leaving, Naruto-kun, until you're all healeded up." Haku added.

He just sighed, knowing that they wouldn't let him leave.

"Good."

So, he stayed there for a few days until he could walk around without hurting. They became quick friends during that time. After about three days, Naruto decided to leave and go back "home."

"I guess I'll see you guys some other time. I think it's time that I take my leave." He said while grabbing his clothes. (he borrowed some from Zabuza.)

He was almost out of the door when he felt a hand on his shoulder stop him. He turned and faced the man.

Zabuza just stared at him. Finally, he pulled out two things from his pocket and handed them to Naruto.

"Here. Take them. I hope to see you again, Naruto. Don't forget that you can come by any time." He said and turned around, closing the door behind him.

The blond just stood there, holding the objects in his hands. He looked down. A wad of money in one hand. A steel black gun in the other…

**END FLASHBACK**

The older blond sighed. He could remember it all like it had happened just yesterday. The day he finally met Zabuza… his "brother."

Naruto stood there for a long time, just thinking. He sighed, knowing it would be a while before he came back here again.

Just as he was about to walk away, he had a spur-of-the-moment thought. He quickly turned around and headed of towards a random building it seemed. He dropped down to his knees and pushed aside a garbage bag. He smirked.

'The lock's still on.' He thought as he fiddled with it a bit. **POP!** It was open.

He slowly slid the rusted window back and hopped inside. He stood on something soft. He looked down, and to his surprise, he was standing on a couch. Not just any couch. _The_ couch. It was the couch that he had in this room when he was little.

He looked around and everything was still there. The mini-fridge, the couch, the table…

'It's exactly how it was when I last left it.' He sighed one last time before turning around and jumping out of the window. This time, he left it unlocked.

He was walking away when he noticed something strange. When he stood up after jumping out of the window, he saw what looked like someone darting behind a building.

He shook his head. 'Probably just my imagination.'

He walked back through the abandoned house, the alleys, and the streets and continued walking.

Neji was really wondering what Naruto was looking at earlier when he hopped into the basement building. He didn't want to go closer and look through the widow incase the blond saw him. He also didn't go see it when Naruto left because he didn't want to lose track of him. Naruto knew where he was going, but Neji didn't.

So, he loyally followed Naruto, but only because he wanted to get back home and could only do that if he found a main road.

After a good while, Naruto had finally made it to Anju's house, and unbeknownst to him, Neji had found the main road and had started home.

Naruto slowly walked down the sidewalk and came up to the door. He slowly raised his hand and…

**KNOCK! KNOCK!**

He waited for someone to answer. After a few minutes he heard some crashes and shouting.

'Was that a cat screeching?'

He finally heard the lock being undone and…

* * *

Well…it sure has been a while. Welcome back! (starts randomly throwing confetti and sounding a kazoo) Well, I decided to make this chapter longer since it's been such a loooong... looooonnnggggggggg... llllllloooooooooooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnnnggggggggggggggg time. (smiles sweetly) So, I decided to leave a cliffie! Yay! (sharp objects get thrown at S.L.) OW! Why'd you have to throw that vacuum cleaner?! (pouts) Hmph. Well…I hope you all stay faithful and keep reading. I hope to update at least once a month… but things don't always turn out as planned…so please bare with me if I don't update like I said. Since it's spring break…I hope to update a little sooner for **all** my fics, so keep watching and you just might find that I've updated! Well…that's all for now and thanks to all the reviewers! I love you all and read all of them. Thanks and byes for now, my loves! 


	7. going in with a bang

Disclaimer:

Disclaimer: Itachi says: "Spicy Lime does not own Naruto, but would like to own me…WAIT A MINUTE!! I did _not_ agree to that!"

Spicy Lime: "Too late!" smiles sweetly.

Well, I gotta say that this is actually turning out better than I didn't plan it to be! Yays! So, I hope that you like it as much as I do right now.

BTW: PLEASE READ THE BOTTOM. THERE IS A VERY IMPORTANT NOTICE FOR ALL READERS.

* * *

Last time:

**KNOCK! KNOCK!**

He waited for someone to answer. After a few minutes he heard some crashes and shouting.

'Was that a cat screeching?'

He finally heard the lock being undone and…

* * *

When the door opened, a man with a pudgy face and beady eyes greeted him. 'What's going on?'

"What d'you want?" His voice was greasy and sounded very unpleasant.

"I'm looking for my friend. Who are you?" The blond eyed the man distrustfully. 'Anju should be here. What happened?'

"Look, kid. I dunno whatcher talkin' 'bout, but I dunno any friend of yours." And with that, the door was slammed in Naruto's face.

"WHAT THE HELL?!"

**KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!**

"What the HELL d'you want?!" The guy was pretty pissed off by now.

"I just want to know what happened, you bastard!" The guy tried to slam the door again, but Naruto stuck his foot in the way and stopped it. "Just tell me what happened, and nothing bad will happen to you."

"Wha' the fuck, kid! Besides, azif you could take me on!" The guy started laughing. He suddenly stopped when he felt something cold and metallic against his temple.

"Now I asked, 'What happened?'" He pushed the gun a little harder into the temple.

"I-I-I jus' m-moved in. I d-d-dunno what happened w-wif the original tenant. Please dun' kill me!!" Naruto suddenly smelled a rank odor.

'Holy shit. The guy actually shit his pants!' He mentally laughed at that, but kept his face emotionless. He took one last look at the soiled man before he turned around and left. The gun had disappeared from his had as though it never even existed.

As he walked the streets, he noticed a shadow hovering behind him. Every time he looked around, it disappeared. Now if it were anyone else, they'd be scared out of their wits. But, this was Naruto. Naruto was used to this.

He sighed to himself. 'Why did it have to be tonight?'

He felt the shadow behind him. He kept going and ignored it. After a few minutes he heard some heavy breathing. He was starting to get a little annoyed. A few minutes more and he was pissed.

He quickly pivoted and glared at the shadow behind a tree. "You can come out, ya bastard! Geez. Gimme a break for a while."

A small child suddenly jumped out from behind a tree. He had a pot on his head and had bright orange goggles around his neck. He also had a towel tied around his neck for a cape. He appeared to be only eight or nine.

"Hiya, Boss! Because you noticed me, that just proves that you're my rival!!" With his energetic shouting, he pumped his fists in the air. Naruto just rubbed his temples in annoyance.

"Yeah. Yeah. Whatever. Can our 'rivalry' wait until tomorrow? I'm not in the mood today to play ninja or deal with ya, Konohamaru. I've had a rough night."

The young boy, now known as Konohamaru just stared at his leader.

"Well too bad, 'cus I'm gonna follow you to wherever you're going!" With that said, he put on a determined face and started walking. Naruto just shook his head and started walking again. They just walked in silence.

Konohamaru was starting to get bored. Pretty soon he couldn't handle it anymore and started walking backwards. "Hey, Leader, can I join you're gang yet? I've been practicing really, really hard! I've been practicing with a stick and I've been practicing with Moegi and Udon as punching bags and I just stole a _real_ gun I can practice with! So can I join?! Can I join?!" He started skipping backward too.

Naruto just stared straight ahead. He wanted to tell the boy who adored him that he should just leave him be. He wanted to tell him that he didn't want him to join and become like him and his gang. He wanted to tell him that he cared for him too much to get him involved with constantly being on guard and looking over your shoulder. He didn't want this innocent boy, which reminded him so much of his younger self, to have his hands stained red with blood.

He peered at the boy from almost closed eyes. "Nah. You gotta get better first of all. Ya also gotta get tested to be in our group. Don' worry about it, brat. Oh, come on! Don't gimme that look!" Konohamaru was standing there with a look of dejection on his face. He even had his bottom lip trembling. "Jeez! You know I can't stand your adorable face. Ugh. I guess I'll just have to help teach you-" Before he could finish his sentence, the blond felt his back on his ground with a weight pressing against his middle.

"THANK YOU!!"

"Alright. Off." With that said, Konohamaru got off and Naruto stood up. "You better get home soon, shrimp. If the Old Man finds out that you're not home at this time of night, you're gonna get in so much trouble."

Konohamaru's eyes went wide and started running home without a word. Naruto just laughed and started walking in the same direction as he did before the young brunette bothered him.

As he walked the streets, his mind wandered. He had no place to sleep yet. Maybe the garage, but his "big bro" would've locked the doors by now. Unless Anju was already there, he'd be stuck and half to find his old place again. He sighed in irritation.

His thoughts lingered a little longer. A few more paces and he ran into a wall. The wall of the chop shop to be more exact.

"Damn."

He walked around and found the door he was looking for. He knocked on the door.

"Hey! Anju! You there? Zabuza!! Helloooo?! Anyone the-!" The door suddenly flew out, hitting Naruto in the head. "Aw shit that hurt!"

Once again, before he knew it, he was on the ground with someone on top of him. 'Who the hell is it this time?! Jesus! If this happens one more time I'm gonna kill someone.'

He decided to look down. There was pitch-black hair with some purple highlights. She was hugging his chest. 'Oh…I see.'

"So you've changed your hair again. I like this color." He picked up a strand and examined it.

She looked up at him with large eyes, still glazed over with sleep. He sighed, wrapped his arms around her, and stood up. Then he carried her bridal style into the garage.

"So where're you sleeping," he muttered to himself. He took time to look around the garage for the makeshift bed/couch. 'Aha!' It was there in the corner, close to a desk with an overflowing paper mountain. He started walking towards it and sat down. Sliding towards the wall it was against, he set Anju down. Instantly, she was by his side, leaning against him. Her head was in the crook of his neck.

"So why're you here, Anju? I went to your old place. You get kicked out too?" He asked her in an almost whisper, "What happened?"

She still had some sleep in her voice when she spoke. "I was more than a month behind in my rent. Had to leave." She just snuggled closer. "Let's just talk 'morrow. I wanna sleep."

"'Kay, Anju-chan." He rested his head on top of her and listened to her even breathing. Soon, he fell asleep.

Next thing her knew, it was morning. There was no one by his side. 'Wha…?'

He slowly stood up and cracked his back and neck. 'Damn that hurt. Note to self: Never sleep like that again.'

After getting the kinks out, he started walking around, searching for Anju to no avail. He finally gave up with a sigh and started turning around. Next thing he knew, there was a small ticking sound.

"What the hell is that?" He started walking around, trying to find where that annoying sound was coming from. He desperately hoped that it was just a new clock.

After a few minutes of useless searching, he heard the ticking get faster. 'Shit!' He ran for the door and tried to open it, but it wouldn't budge. 'Someone's tampered with it!' He gave up quickly and ran towards the sliding garage door. He tried that too, but it was in vain. He stopped and listened. The ticking was getting even faster.

In a last ditch hope of getting out of the chop shop, he grabbed some of the leftover pieces laying around and tried to pierce a hole through the garage door. It was pointless, he knew, but he still tried. 'Stupid Zabuza! I just had to play a tiny prank, and he had to go and get a fucking reinforced door. Fuck!' He gave up and slid to the ground. He vaguely noted the ticking was getting slightly faster. 'Okay. How long do I have, I wonder.' He took a deep breath to calm himself. 'First of all, how am I going to save my ass?' He looked around at what was in the chop shop. As he looked around, he realized something. Zabuza couldn't yell at him if he wrecked the cars, because they're going to get ruined anyway without his help. With that in mind, he formulated a plan.

* * *

Zabuza was walking through town, trying to ignore the girl by his side.

"Haku, stop fussing. We'll be home soon." He glanced at her before looking where he was going. Even though she had a cool exterior, there were telltale signs that he noticed. She was getting fidgety and he couldn't fathom why.

She looked up at him, and smiled that annoying smile. "I don't quite know why, Zabuza-sama. I just have a feeling. It's a strange feeling. It's like the calm before the storm. I can't not fidget. I just know something is going to happen." She looked up at him with eyes that told him that something bad would be happening soon. He got a slight chill from the breeze.

In his left arm was a bag full of groceries. In his right were some parts for his cars. They were also in a bag. 'If something happens, I couldn't grab my gun.' He looked at Haku and gave her the bag of parts. She didn't complain. She instinctively knew why. That's why he liked Haku, she didn't ask questions and she knew him well enough that she didn't need to. She was a devout follower of him, but sometimes, she was more like a daughter.

As he was thinking about this, his mind wandered to his "son." The blond moron that always seemed wiser than he should be at times. 'I bet this has something to do with him.' He did a quick glance at Haku and shook his head. 'Nah. He'll be okay. That moron always seems to get outta jams. I'm just imagining things.'

Haku just smiled at Zabuza. She knew what he was thinking, but she just couldn't shake the feeling that he was wrong.

They both walked in silence for a while. Finally, they came into view of the chop shop. "Home, sweet home." The girl just nodded.

**BOOOOOMMM!!**

All of a sudden, they were thrown backward. They looked up and saw the chop shop engulfed in flames. Or rather, what was left of the chop shop.

* * *

(A/N:)

**(Very Important Notice:**

Hey people. I'm very sorry about the long wait. Thank you to my faithful readers. I hope you'll understand why this was such a late chapter. Basically, I decided to pay more attention to two of my other stories for now. They are "Of Crumbling Masks" and "Revenge Is Best Served Cold." My other stories are on the backburner for now. That includes this one. So, if I don't update for a while, that's to be expected. I wanted to do something for you all since I haven't update this in practically a year…I think. Anyways, please forgive me. Thank you for your patience and I hope you continue to read this, no matter how long the updates are. Arigatou. (thank you)


	8. AN: prepare those keyboards

A/N:)

I must say that I apologize greatly for doing this. I promised myself that I would never abandon a story, so I won't.

I have come to a compromise. I am going to continue writing this fic. I'm going to keep puting my all into it. However, I am going to offer anyone who wants to adopt this story a chance to take it over and make it his or her own (I don't really have the same spark anymore). If anyone wants to adopt it, please just message me.

If you want to take over this story, here's how this is going to work: **1)** Send me a message (not a review) that you would like to adopt this. **2)** In this message, I would like to see a general idea of what you have planned. This will not make or break your chance, I'm just curious. **3)** I will then take a look at your stories to see your style and general thinking. If you have no stories up, send me a small excerpt of something you have written. **4)** After everything, I will make a decision.

So, I will continue writing, and you will continue reading. But, if you feel you could really take this somewhere, please just message me.

And just so you know, I'm not going to be one of those annoying authors that leaves an A/N in the story. That's just despicable. So as soon as I finish the next chapter, or someone takes over, this A/N will be deleted.

Thanks for your understanding. Goodbye for now, my lovelies.

(BTW...you should all also thank InTheYearOfTheCat for me making a compromise.)


	9. AN: apologies

Dear readers,

I would like to formally apologize for my overlong absence. I have been extremely busy between work, school, and other such trivialities. I originally intended on fixing all of my stories because they are very poorly written (though thank you for reading them as noticeably bad as they are). I would like to thank you for faithfully reading and I apologize to those who will undoubtedly be reading this after just starting them. However, I have no extra time to spare with all the hectic things happening in my personal life at present. As such, and I greatly regret this, I must discontinue working on these stories. I hate not continuing them, but it is necessary.

Though despair not, for I hope that a few kind persons are willing to adopt them, make them better, and give them the loving care that I have neglected to give. The only stories that I will not be giving up for adoption are Fluffy Kink Onsen (seeing as it is a co-written story) and Of Crumbling Masks (it's my baby and I hope to actually finish this one).

So if anyone is willing to adopt any story, please just message me. Once an adopter has been decided, I will send out a chapter declaring the person so that you may all continue to enjoy these stories.

Thank you so much for your patience,

Spicy Lime


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